2/26/2009 10:31:00 p.m. -
Reported by
Josiah Rowe

Doctor Who has won an international award for its special effects, and David Tennant has been doubly nominated for the Broadcasting Press Guildawards.

The Visual Effects Society, an international organization of visual effects professionals, nominated Doctor Who in two categories this year. Simon Wickers, Charlie Bennett, Tim Barter and Arianna Lago won the award for "Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Broadcast Program or Commercial" for their work on "Silence in the Library" (click thumbnail below for example). Doctor Who has been previously nominated several times for VES awards, but this is the first time it has won; historically, the awards have generally gone to North American productions.

The team at the Mill were also nominated for "Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special", but lost to the HBO miniseries "John Adams". The full list of nominees for the 7th Annual VES Awards are here; the list of winners is here.

In other awards news, David Tennant has been nominated twice in the Best Actor category of the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, selected by journalists who write about TV and radio. Tennant is nominated both for his role as the Doctor and for his performance as astrophysicist Arthur Eddington in the BBC/HBO coproduction "Einstein and Eddington", which has also been nominated for Best Single Drama. The winners will be announced on 27 March. Further details are available at the Broadcasting Press Guild website and from the Guardian.